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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27373582">Lean on Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmallTownWriter12342/pseuds/SmallTownWriter12342'>SmallTownWriter12342</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mind Blind (Interactive Fiction)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 12:02:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27373582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmallTownWriter12342/pseuds/SmallTownWriter12342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alvina is struggling after what happened with her and her mother. Luckily, Nick is an amazing older brother. :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lean on Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alvina still did not understand what had gotten her so upset at her mother in the first place.</p><p>                But all she knew now was that she had broken her family forever.</p><p>                And there was no going back, not this time.</p><p>                The realization had taken a while to fully sink in, as if she had just a few days would past and everything would go back to normal, back to how they were before. They would find a way to move on from what had happened, and be able to move on forward. That this was not the end of everything that she had ever known.</p><p>                But it was.</p><p>                Her mother had not returned any her calls, and it made her more and more anxious the longer it went on. She knew that she needed space after what had happened, but it just made her realize the ugly truth, a truth that she did not want to accept, but was forced to anyway.</p><p>                <em>This is all my fault.</em></p><p>For some reason, as much as it scared her to remember those twenty-seven minutes that had felt like twenty-seven hours, that was what hurt most of all. Being the sole reason why here family would never be the same again.</p><p>                And once it had finally hit, she had spent most of the day in her room, trying hard not to cry, but ultimately failing, giving into the sob that had built in her chest, the traitorous tears falling down her face anyway, and even though she tried to hide it, she knew that Nick could probably sense it all anyway, and part of her begged for him to leave her alone.</p><p>                And part of her wanted him to come in and tell one of his stupid jokes and for a second, make everything feel alright in the world again, needing someone to tell her that it would all turn out okay. That the world would someday make sense again. That everything would turn back to normal.</p><p>                <em>Even if it won’t.</em></p><p>                Alvina twisted her auburn curls with her fingers tightly, almost pulling at her hair, something that she had always done when she was stressed, her hair frizzy from nothing being done with it the past few days.</p><p>                It did little to calm herself, but it was all that she could do as the toxic thoughts never left her mind. And try as she might, nothing she did would make them leave.</p><p>                What would even happen now? Would her mother actually ever want to talk to her again? Would she even want anything to do with her?</p><p>                <em>Focus Alvina. Sulking never fixes anything, you know this.</em></p><p>
  <em>                You don’t have all the answers now, and that’s okay.</em>
</p><p>But the rational side of her mind never won over the turmoil, always drawing her back to the anxiousness that was threatening to ruin her.</p><p>                <em>What’s the future going to look like for me now?</em></p><p>She had never wanted someone to look into her future before, and even if she did not like what was shown to her, it had to be better then the unknowns. It would at least let her grasp at something, an idea on what to expect now.</p><p>                A sudden knock on the door distracted her, and she heard a familiar voice in her head.</p><p>                <em>Button?</em></p><p>“You can come in”, she said aloud, and he did so, the image of him blurry from her taking her glasses off and her own tears, but there was not doubt that it was indeed her brother, his auburn hair identical to her own, if not as tightly curled as hers was.</p><p>                “Hey”, Nick said as he came to sit next to her on the edge of her bed, giving her a bright smile as he did so, and she tried to wipe the remaining tears out her eyes, hoping that they were not overly red.   And she knew that he could hear all that she was thinking, so as he slightly raised his eyebrow as permission to speak, she was unsure on what to say.</p><p>                <em>What I could possibly say that he couldn’t possibly already know?</em></p><p>“It’s going to be okay”, he whispered, trying to meet her eyes while she was doing everything to avoid making eye contact with him.</p><p>                <em>No, it’s not.</em></p><p>“What’s even going to happen now? she asked aloud, knowing that he did not know either, but wanting some semblance of a plan. That would make things easier to understand. If she knew what was coming next.</p><p>                “For now?”, he responded, the smile on his face growing even brighter, “Looks like you’re stuck with my wonderful company, Button”</p><p>                Even though it hurt, she could feel a smile form on her own face, “That isn’t the worst thing in the world”</p><p>                But a thought made her smile disappear.</p><p>                <em>It’s not fair to Nick though.</em></p><p>“Don’t start with that”, he said lightly, but with a twinge of seriousness as well, “It’ll all be fine, you’ll see”</p><p>                He then gave a snort, “I wonder what we’ll get up to together now that seems you’ll be sticking around”</p><p>                “You’re such a dork”, Alvina said, rolling her eyes, but a laugh on her lips anyway, and she could not deny that she felt slightly better, the lightness of it all helping her breathe a little better.</p><p>                <em>It’s nice to have someone to count on.</em></p><p>“You’re not so bad yourself, you know”, he said, giving her a slight nudge with his shoulder, obviously having had heard what she was thinking.</p><p>                “Thanks”, she spoke dryly, but still touched by it anyway, giving him a smile</p><p>“It’ll all work out, Button”, Nick reassured her, “I don’t need to be a precog to know that. It might not be the way that we planned, but when has life ever worked out the way we planned?”</p><p>                “I suppose you do have a point with that”, she conceded, “But I’d like it to cooperate sometimes”</p><p>                He laughed at that, making his hazel eyes almost seem to gleam, “Don’t we all?” His face then softened, “No matter what, I’m going to be here for you. No matter what happens”</p><p>                “I know”, she beamed, the words helping calm the storm of anxiety inside her mind, “Thanks, Saint Nick”</p><p>                <em>It’s the same for you, you know.</em></p><p>Nick gave her a smile, and then went to leave the room, “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me”</p><p>                He left, and Alvina settled back down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.</p><p>                <em>Things would be a lot worse without Nick.</em></p><p>
  <em>                This would be harder if he was not here right now.</em>
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